Bride's father chokes to death at wedding

A FATHER choked to death at his daughter's wedding reception - but the party went on because it "would have been what he wanted".

Jagan Babwah, 73, had taken his seat at the top table among 160 guests to toast his only daughter Camela's marriage at a 14th century castle.

But minutes after the meal got under way, he began choking on a piece of lamb and was taken outside.

Guests tried to perform the Heimlich manoeuvre to clear the blockage but the father of four suffered a heart attack.

He was pronounced dead when paramedics arrived at the scene.

Camela Taylor, 35, decided to continue the celebration, as her father would have been angry if they had stopped because of his death.

She said her father had been thrilled as, wearing a three-piece suit for the first time, he had escorted her in a white Rolls-Royce to the ceremony and gave her away to new husband John Taylor, 26.

The mother-of-one, from Gillingham, Kent, said of the decision to continue the celebrations: "It would have been what Dad wanted.

"We have been planning the wedding for two-and-a-half years and he was forever talking about it.

"In the morning he was so happy. I was his baby daughter.

"He had never worn a proper three-piece suit. As he was about to walk me down the aisle he started to cry. It was the first time I've seen him cry and it started me off. It was such a hot day. When we were having the meal I told him to take his jacket off but he wouldn't. He looked so smart."

Mr Babwah, also from Gillingham, had been sitting next to his wife Shanty, 67, at the reception in Cooling Castle, Rochester, Kent, on May 31. He was escorted outside for fresh air as he started to choke.

Mrs Taylor waited for her father to return but she was taken to the adjoining room - where her wedding service had taken place earlier - to be told that he was dead.

She never got to hear his speech and revealed how she struggled to read his card message the following day. "To be honest opening the card was the hardest part," she said. "I opened it the next day. He had given us money towards our honeymoon.

"We were thinking of going to Mexico but we had to cancel it. Now I can't put my wedding cards up because I have so many sympathy cards."

Mrs Taylor, who met her husband at Lloyds TSB - where they both work - added: "For weeks after I felt like I didn't want to celebrate. It just didn't seem right."

An inquest this week recorded a verdict of accidental death.

Coroner Patricia Harding stated the cause of death as inhalation of food.

Mrs Taylor's brother Anill, 37, who was by his father's side during his final moments told the inquest he was "the most unselfish man you could ever meet".

The father-of-two, who was also best man for Mr Taylor at the wedding ceremony, said: "He was jovial.

"It was the first time he had been in a Rolls-Royce and he was saying how nice it was. Dad would have been angry if he thought his daughter's wedding was cancelled because of him. His family meant everything to him."

The coroner told Mr Bubwah's children: "I am sorry. This is a very sad affair and for you it must be particularly difficult for Camela."

News.com.au's Privacy Policy includes important information about our collection, use and disclosure of your personal information (including to provide you with targeted content and advertising based on your online activities). It explains that if you do not provide us with information we have requested from you, we may not be able to provide you with the goods and services you require. It also explains how you can access or seek correction of your personal information, how you can complain about a breach of the Australian Privacy Principles and how we will deal with a complaint of that nature.